Recent Advances in Anodes for Microbial Fuel Cells: An Overview

Abstract

The recycling and treatment of wastewater using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has been attracting significant attention as a way to control energy crises and water pollution simultaneously. Despite all efforts, MFCs are unable to produce high energy or efficiently treat pollutants due to several issues, one being the anode's material. The anode is one of the most important parts of an MFC. Recently, different types of anode materials have been developed to improve the removal rate of pollutants and the efficiency of energy production. In MFCs, carbon-based materials have been employed as the most commonly preferred anode material. An extensive range of potentials are presently available for use in the fabrication of anode materials and can considerably minimize the current challenges, such as the need for high quality materials and their costs. The fabrication of an anode using biomass waste is an ideal approach to address the present issues and increase the working efficiency of MFCs. Furthermore, the current challenges and future perspectives of anode materials are briefly discussed.

Keywords: anode challenge; anode fabrication source; anode material; energy production; microbial fuel cell; wastewater treatment.

Figure 1

Superiority of the graphene-based modified anode (right) compared to the graphene-based modified cathode (left) (reproduced from Reference [9] with Elsevier’s permission).

Figure 2

Systematic presentation of electrode fabrication for MFCs by using biomass waste.

Figure 3

List of commonly used electrodes: (A) carbon paper, (B) carbon cloth, (C) carbon fibre, (D) reticulated vitrified carbon, (E) carbon mesh, (F) graphitic granular, (G) carbon brushes, (H) graphite rod, (I) polycrystalline graphite, (J) carbon felt, (K) platinum mesh, (L) different metal electrode strips, (M) conductive polymer-based strips.

Figure 4

Performance of anode electrode in MFCs.